MINUTES
TOWN MEETING
December 2, 2014
Emmitsburg Town Office
Present:
Mayor Donald Briggs; Joseph Ritz III, Jennifer Mellor,
Glenn Blanchard and Tim O’Donnell, President.
Staff present were Vickie Felix, Sue Cipperly, Town
Planner and Dave Haller, Town Manager.
Absent:
Commissioner Sweeney arrived 8:09 p.m.
_________________________________________________________________________
I.
Call to Order
Commissioner Tim O’Donnell, President of the Board of
Commissioners, called the December 2, 2014 Town Meeting
to order at 7:30 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Approval
of Minutes
The Minutes of the November 17, 2014 Town Meeting were
approved as presented.
Commissioner Comments
Commissioners’ cited attendances to include the turkey
trot, over 230 people attended; the tree lighting
ceremony; meeting with Frederick City Committee re:
recreational use of their water shed. Recognized town
staff and contractors for plowing job well done in all
developments. Congratulations to newly elected County
Charter Board.
Mayor’s Comments
Mayor Brigg’s cited that the town closed the loan on the
wastewater treatment plant. Staff and Mayor met with
Chief Ron Slarnicki re: Fallen Fire Fighters; met with
the new NETC manger re: sidewalk and extension of water;
Singed memorandum of understating in regards to the
pathway with Mount Saint Mary’s; Met with potential
developer who is interested in doing some things in
town. Thanked Mother Seton 4th graders for
decorating the tree on the square. He thanked staff for
preparing the Christmas wreaths that were put up
downtown. He attended the tree lighting ceremony. He
read to the kindergarten classes at the Emmitsburg
Elementary School.
Administrative Business
·
Problems with channel 99 rotation of messages – staff
stated new hardware will be put in place
·
Memorandum of Understanding with county - path from Mt.
Saint Mary’s – 80% Federal Funding
·
Turkey trot issue with restroom use – pressure issue-
order 2 jiffy johns for next year’s event
·
Silo Hill Playground – installation complete; all done
through grant work
·
December 15, 2014 town meeting no agenda items – cancel
enjoy holidays
·
Update on Parks Committee Meeting
·
ADA compliance in parks
·
Vehicles at Hobb’s house
Consent Agenda - none
Reports:
Treasurer’s Report –
Commissioner Blanchard reported on November 2014 cash
activity. Detailed report at Exhibit A.
Planning Commission Report –
Sue Cipperly, Town Planner reported that the Planning
Commission met on November 24, 2014 and discussed the
Cluster Ordinance that had been referred to them by the
Board of Commissioners.
II. Agenda Items
Consideration of limitations on water and sewer tap fee
funds
Mr. Haller stated this is a clarification of the
practice that staff has used for the past 12 years.
There was a time about 14 years ago where monies were
transferred from department to department sometimes not
really appropriately to pay the bills. Staff has worked
very hard to make sure water, sewer and tax rates are
proper that, that doesn’t happen. He is reviewing
different items before he retires and in the proposed
ordinances he added paragraph D which indicates that
funds collected would be restricted/reserved to maintain
water and sewer system. There was a brief discussion on
the different size meters and how that affects the water
usage. Approximately every three to five years the tap
fees should be reviewed, the fees at this time are
pretty solid. There are two ordinances, one for water
and one for sewer that were presented for consideration.
Motion:
To approve Ordinance 14-16 an ordinance to amend Title
13 of The Code of Emmitsburg entitled public services as
presented.
Motion made by Commissioner Blanchard and second by
Commissioner Mellor.
Vote: 4-0 in
favor
At this time Commissioner Sweeney arrived at the
meeting.
Motion:
To
approve ordinance 14-17 an ordinance to amend Title 13
of the Code of Emmitsburg entitled public services as
presented.
Motion made by Commissioner Ritz and second by
Commissioner Mellor.
Vote:
5-0 in favor
Consideration of modifications to citizen’s advisory
committee related to scheduling
Mr. Haller stated these changes were recommend by
Commissioner Ritz and reviewed by staff and approved. He
is asking for Boards consent. The modifications
included that the Mayor and/or the Chairman can
recommend people to this committee with the consent of
the Board of Commissioners; meetings would be on the
third Tuesday of January, April, July and October and an
allowance to call for special meetings. There was
discussion on paragraph F. Strike wording by mail or
telephone.
Motion:
- To approve ordinance 14-18 an ordinance to amend Title
2 of the Code of Emmitsburg entitled administration and
personnel as modified.
Motion made by Commissioner Mellor and second by
Commissioner Sweeney.
Vote: 5-0 in
favor
Ordinance 14-09 vehicles and traffic related to
maintenance
Sue Cipperly stated this was at the last meeting and
after some input from the Commissioners she made some
changes. The major change was the addition of paragraphs
D, E and F re: how it would be enforced and how many
days notice people would get.
Motion:
- To approve ordinance 14-09 an ordinance to amend
Title 10 of the Code of Emmitsburg entitled vehicles and
traffic as presented
Motion made by Commissioner Sweeney and second
by Commissioner Mellor.
Vote: 5-0 in
favor.
Ordinance 14-10 health and safety related to property
appearance
Ms. Cipperly reported that this was presented to the
Board last month. Commissioner Ritz made a suggestion to
combine two paragraphs into one. Paragraph A now
contains new wording. In paragraph C the word this
was added. At the meeting Ms. Cipperly noticed that she
needs to modify the alphabetic letters on paragraphs
since changes were made.
Motion:
- To approve ordinance 14-10 an ordinance to amend Title
8 of the Code of Emmitsburg entitled health and safety
as modified.
Motion made by Commissioner Blanchard second
by Commissioner Mellor.
Vote: 5-0 in
favor.
The Board considered the Mayor’s request to cancel the
December 15, 2015 town meeting since there were no
agenda items. Unanimous consent.
Set Agenda Items for January 5, 2015 Town Meeting
1.
Fire Fighters Heritage Museum Water Service
2.
Transportation access in town - discussion
III. Public Comments - none
IV. SIGN APPROVED TEXT AMENDMENTS AND/OR
RESOLUTIONS
